The Bitterest Pill

Sixty-one

Arakel’s phone rang, and somehow he knew the news wasn’t good. Nothing had been right since the day the boy had called and told him about the dead girl in Paradise. Since then he’d become a murderer and a drunk. He had come this close to raping a woman. But he wasn’t patting himself on the back for stopping himself, because he had, in turn, forced that woman to seduce a young girl into the trade. And even that had blown up nearly before it got started. He drank down one of his little vodka bottles and then picked up.

“Yes.”

“We’ve got an issue,” said the voice on the other end.

“An issue?”

“There was an out-of-town cop parked across from the clinic, and he wasn’t there to get healthy.”

“Cop. What cop?”

“Stone. Police chief in Paradise. We got rid of him today, but he’ll be back. Now I’ve got to cover my ass with the brass in case they come back to me. I think you and the Shah better think about relocating and soon.”

Arakel was fuming, but the man on the other end of the line clicked off before he had a chance to remind him about who worked for whom.

Petra had skipped her second-period class to find her. The frightened girl made some lame excuse about another teacher needing to see her when she walked into the teachers’ lounge. But now they were in the basement of the school in a room that not even the janitorial staff bothered with. It was full of old desks, worn shiny blackboards, and broken chairs.

She grabbed Petra’s hair, pulling her head back and slamming her into the wall.

“How stupid can you be, letting other teachers see us together. This better be good.”

Petra, already frightened, was now one little spark short of a total meltdown.

“Molly Crane came to the house last night to ask about Chris Grimm,” she said, gasping for air as she spoke. “My dad didn’t let her talk to me.”

She relaxed her grip on the girl’s hair. “So what’s the problem?”

“Because my dad wouldn’t let her talk to me, I am going to be questioned by Jesse Stone tonight at the station. My dad got me a lawyer and told me everything would be all right, but—”

She changed her approach to the girl. She was stroking her hair. “I’m sorry, Petra. I was just so frightened that it would spoil things between us if people saw us together. It’s okay, I understand now.”

“No matter what my dad says, I’m going to tell Jesse about the drugs. I can’t take this anymore, all the lying and stealing and stuff. But I swear I won’t say anything about us. I promise. I could never hurt you.”

It was all she could do not to slap the girl and once again show her the photo of Chris Grimm’s battered and lifeless body, but she couldn’t afford to have Petra lose it completely.

“You can never tell anyone about me,” she said before kissing the girl hard on the mouth. “You must never, never say you sold drugs to anyone. Never. They won’t forgive that.” She kissed her again and brushed her hand across the girl’s breasts. “Tonight, no matter what your father and the lawyer tell you, don’t say anything. Later on, you can admit to doing drugs, but please, for me, lover, not tonight. I need tonight to make sure we are both clear of this stuff.” She kissed her again. “Promise me.”

“I promise. I could never hurt you. I would rather die than hurt you.”

“Shhh, lover. Now get back to class.”

Arakel’s phone rang again, and he was even less pleased when he heard the woman’s voice.

“What now? I thought we had agreed you could handle the little girl.”

“It’s the local police, they are going to formally interview the girl tonight. She won’t say anything, but I don’t know how long that will last.”

“We can have the men in the white van visit her. You have spoken with them, yes?”

She swallowed hard. “Yes.”

“They have seen to the boy. They will see to the girl.”

“No, don’t you touch her! She disappears or gets hurt, all hell will break loose.”

Arakel, fortified with more alcohol, said, “Or we can see to you. I think the men in the van would prefer that. One way or the other, this must be handled.”

“Give me a few days,” she said, “please.”

“Handle it.”

The click on the other end told her it wasn’t up for debate. The image of Chris Grimm’s body flashed before her eyes. She didn’t actually care much for Petra as a lover and she was such a child, but she could never let those animals touch her. She would have to see to the girl herself, and she had an idea of how to do it.

Arakel knocked on Mehdi’s door and entered his office.

“We have a problem in Paradise.”

Mehdi laughed. “Yes, what a ridiculous name.”

“It is quite a lovely place,” Arakel said, feeling a pang of regret for what he had brought to the town.

“It tempts the fate to call a place on this earth Paradise.”

Now it was Arakel who laughed. “I fear neither one of us will ever see true Paradise.”

“Yes, let us concern ourselves with base, temporal things. You were saying.”

“The teacher has called and the police are going to question the girl. She was warned to handle it or I said that I would have to have our men handle it. She will see to it. Also, the Paradise police chief showed up outside the clinic. We put him off for today, but he is a stubborn one and will return.”

“Yes, Stojan called and reported to me. This policeman, he may be the bigger problem than the woman and the girl. We might have to see to him.” When Arakel got to the door, Mehdi called after him. “But you must make certain that when one leak is closed that the other does not once again come open. All leaks will have to be sealed or what is the point? Do you understand my meaning?”

Arakel understood it, all right. He nodded at Mehdi and left. He understood that the woman and the girl would have to die and that he would be even farther away from paradise than the day he shot the boy to death.